The Fall

I absolutely loved this second part of the trilogy. Often, the second book of three tends to be slow and a bit tedious, at least partway through, but no part of this was either of those things. A thrill ride from start to finish, with so many answers leading to so many more questions and so many things left to think about. I definitely wasn't expecting that ending and I'm certainly interested to see where The Night Eternal and the conclusion of the trilogy take this story. I can't wait to get my hands on it!

I have to say, though, that there are some things I just didn't think that I'd like which happened in this book and yet...I'm satisfied about them. For instance, I didn't think that I'd be able to be okay with Setrakian dying before show more the end of the trilogy, I didn't think I'd be okay with him dying before the Master bit it for good, and I didn't think I'd be okay with the Master choosing a new vessel and casting away Sardu's. But the way that the authors wrote it was completely satisfying and completely fitting. I'm glad that Setrakian got the ending that he did, and I'm glad that he was able to release Sardu at the same time. I'm glad that Sardu's soul was truly released and left the collective of souls that the Master keeps with him, because I've always felt bad for him. So many years. Finally, release. And I'm glad that it was Setrakian who was able to do that, with his last act of defiance, because for Setrakian it began with the Master in that body and I'm glad that for Setrakian and for the Master that body ended with the conclusion of Setrakian's life. I'm glad that Setrakian was able to die peacefully, as well. It just...seemed so perfectly fitting. Something that I had dreaded and had thought I would hate, actually became my favorite part of this second book and, perhaps, it will continue on to be my favorite part of the trilogy itself.

I also have to say that I'm glad that Setrakian was able to destroy Eichhorst, as well.

I was also unsure about Palmer dying before the end of the trilogy, as well. He was such a good adversary, such a good obstacle, but his time really had been played out and I like his ending. I think it was perhaps the best ending I could have wished for for that awful character.

I'm going to be on pins and needles until I can get hold of the last book and see what happens with the remaining characters and what becomes of the world. I definitely recommend this trilogy and this book for anyone who likes sci-fi and vampires, and misses when vampires were the evil thing that went bump in the night and it was okay to hunt them indiscriminately in fiction. show less

Picking up only a day or two after The Strain ends, The Fall segues away from the traditional horror, as established in The Strain, and moves towards a more psychological thriller. Instead of who and what, The Fall presents readers with the master plan - what it is, who is involved, and why. Given my reaction to the focus on the vampire virus and the vampires themselves in the first novel, this switch was a welcome change and definitely renewed my interest in the series.

For those not familiar with the series, The Fall does an excellent job of recapping the previous story without completely rehashing every detail. The end result is a novel that will not bore fans who read the first book but will bring new readers up-to-speed quickly. show more This allows more time for the real action of the story to develop.

Given its focus on the whys and hows behind the Master's plan and its more psychological nature, one might assume that the book is less scary, less horrific. This is definitely not true. Rather than focusing on horror of the vampires, readers are introduced to the horrors of humans and the depths to which they are willing to descend for power. This is a much more horrifying aspect of the story because it is the one element of the series that could come true - humans selling out other humans for power and money. It is definitely nightmare-worthy.

Not being quite a fan of The Strain, I do think the series redeemed itself with The Fall. There are quite a few untied story lines and certain cliffhangers that make it clear that the third book is going to be just as different from the first two, as The Fall is from the first book. It definitely lost its humor and became a truly scary story. show less

A horrific virus has been unleashed in New York, creating savage vampires that hunt indiscriminately. Civilization has pretty much crumbled, leaving anarchy in the vampires' wake. There is only a small group of people that oppose these powerful creatures, including former CDC employee Ephraim Goodweather and his son, elderly Abraham Setrakian, Nora Martinez, and exterminator Vasiliy Fet. They are the only thing in between the strigoi and total human annihilation. The story continues just after the group failed to destroy the Master, the powerful vampire behind the epidemic. Setrakian hopes to obtain a book from the 17th century that could give him the key to destroying all the vampires, but every time this book has surfaced, disaster show more has followed, and it costs millions of dollars. To make things worse, Eldritch Palmer, a very rich and sickly man, is giving the Master his full support and Ephraim's ex-wife turned vampire is stalking the small group of heroes to turn her loved ones. Through all these obstacles, can Ephraim and his hodgepodge group save the human race?

Usually, the second book of a trilogy drags and falls flat, simply succeeding in setting up the characters for the grand finale. The Fall is not the typical second book. It is just as compelling as the first book, but very bleak. The vampires Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan created aren't your standard tall, dark, handsome, or sparkling types that have become popular in recent years. They are disgusting and their only interest in humans is for food and transmitting the virus so it will spread as far as possible. This view of vampires is refreshing since there are so few truly dangerous vampire stories out there. I like that the physiological changes from human to vampire are described in detail. It lends a sense of realism to a usually fantastical creature.

There are a few new things in this novel that I found particularly interesting and made the novel compelling. The first is the concept that human love is corrupted and changed in the conversion from human to vampire, leading the new vampire to infect their loved ones with the virus. It makes the epidemic all that more devastating that even love isn't safe from these brutal vampires. This theme recurs throughout the novel and proves to be toxic to the protagonists. Vampire children are introduced when children blinded by the eclipse are kidnapped and turned to be troops that don't rely on eyesight to fight the enemy. These creatures are incredibly disturbing and difficult for the humans to deal with since they still appear to be children. Another new addition is the small group of original ancient vampires that oppose the Master because they view vampirism as a great gift to be given with discretion to only the most deserving. They gather and fund a small army of gang members and other random people to join the fight against the Master. It makes sense that vampires wouldn't want to overtake humans because their food source would be extremely depleted and a situation like in the film Daybreakers may ensue. In that group of fighters is an interesting character named Angel, who is a retired wrestler. He goes from an old, washed up has-been to a fierce fighter again. He experiences a kind of rebirth. His interesting past and drive to fight despite his age made him my favorite new character.

The Strain Trilogy brings vampires from the romance genre they've settled in back to their true horror roots. The Fall is a worthy follow-up to The Strain. This series is addictive and I seriously can't wait for the final installment, Eternal Night, to come out. show less

The news reports talk about riots, civil unrest, perhaps some sort of viral epidemic. They have to say that — who would take them seriously if they started talking about vampires? In The Fall, the second book in Guillermo del Toro’s The Strain trilogy, nothing less than the future of mankind is at stake.

The people massing in the lowest levels of the World Trade Center reconstruction site are not gang-bangers, vandals or victims of some exotic flu. They’re vampires. They’ve caught an age-old infection, an aggressive contagion, one that doesn’t even require a bite. This epidemic is spreading like wildfire, crippling New York City as well as other major cities across the globe.

Ephraim Goodweather is no longer the CDC’s golden show more boy. He has been discredited, accused of murder, and he’s in hiding with mysterious pawn shop owner Abraham Setrakian. Eph wants to fight this with science, wants to believe that he can count on the the Powers That Be to come to their rescue, or at least to take them seriously. Instead, Eph, Setrakian and their pal, exterminator extraordinaire Vasily Fet, are on their own, or very nearly so. They may find that they have some truly unexpected allies.

There are a couple of interesting developments since the last book. Eph’s son, Zack is being targeted by his mother, Kelly. Newly-turned vampires have a primal need to gather their Dear Ones and bring them into the fold. With all that Zack has seen, he still can’t quite believe that his mother is a danger to him. Eldritch Palmer, multi-billionaire businessman may be working with the vampires, but he definitely has his own agenda. And even some of the vampires may not be what they appear to be. This is an ancient conspiracy, and we finally learn a little about what is driving The Master and his relationship to the other Ancients, as well as learning that Setrakian knows far more than he has revealed so far.

These are not sparkly, happy vampires. These are ugly, disgusting creatures; no sex appeal here. Goodweather, Setrakian and Fet are literally fighting for the survival of the human race. This fast-paced thriller keeps you turning pages, building suspense even as it begins to reveal its secrets. show less

The world is ending. A virus unleashed following the bizarre landing of “the dead plane” at JFK is spreading at an astronomical rate, turning anyone who comes in contact into bloodthirsty vampires. Human survivors are dwindling, cities are burning, and social infrastructure is collapsing.

And Sotheby’s holds an auction.

That is The Fall for you, the second book in The Strain trilogy about mankind’s last battles against the rampaging vampiric virus. Picking up where The Strain left off, a band of survivors, including Dr. Eph Goodweather and Dr. Nora Martinez, both formerly of the CDC, Eph’s young son, Zack, pest exterminator Vassily Fet, and Holocaust survivor / vampire expert Abraham Setrakian, are holed up and trying to recover show more from their failed encounter with the Master, the king vampire whose arrival aboard “the dead plane” unleashed “the strain” on Manhattan. Thrown off by the Master’s ability to withstand sunlight, the ragtag band of vampire hunters also face a new threat: Eph’s ex-wife and Zach’s mother, Kelly, is a vampire, one of the Master’s right hands, and she is deadest on getting her hands (and her stinger) on her son. As the group tries to stay one step ahead of Kelly, and out of the clutches of the Master, they also seek an ancient text that details the origin of vampires, and hopefully, how to bring them down.

Meanwhile, 19-year-old Gus Elizande has been recruited by a group of ancient vampires - the originals - as a soldier in their own war against the Master. Teaming up with fellow gang bangers, and a retired wrestler / movie star, Gus sets out to destroy every “vamp” he comes across. When Gus and his warriors team up with Eph and crew, it becomes a race against time to find the book and stop the Master before the entire world is destroyed.

Gripping stuff. And it has taken me some reflection to finally put my finger on what has withheld me from fully embracing this book. The writing is much better than The Strain. Del Toro and Hogan stepped away from the clinical description of every minute action – as was their approach to the first novel – and have turned more towards the smooth flow of narrative. So it’s not the writing. And it’s not the suspense of the novel. The world is falling apart. You can’t get much more suspenseful than that.

It is a sense of believability. I know a world where a virus that turns all infected into vampires requires a certain suspension of reality. But it is possible to create a world with the most far-fetched and outlandish premise, and still make it believable. It is a core tenet of writing: make sure everything that happens, every word that is spoken, and every action taken is true to the world and the characters that inhabit it. At the end of The Strain, Eph, Setrakian, and Vassily go up against the Master in hand-to-hand combat. Here are your warriors: an 85-year-old pawnbroker who has to take a nitroglycerin pill every few minutes because of heart palpitations, a medical doctor who never lifted a weapon until the release of the virus 6 days earlier, and a rat exterminator who, yeah, may be big and burly, but still kills his enemies by spraying a hose. I know the supreme likelihood they will fail in their fight is part of the suspense. But the fact this all-powerful being with superhuman strength and speed, not to mention the ability to communicate telepathically, was sent on the run by these three warriors after just a few swings of a sword? And no one was hurt? Please. You can do better than that.

And del Toro and Hogan don’t in The Fall. Sotheby’s holds an auction in the middle of Armageddon? Really?

Still, I am hooked enough to read the final installment. Let’s see what kind of reality I have to suspend for this one. show less

Fast paced and scary as hell. It seems like the middle book in a trilogy always lags a bit, but I didn't notice it here. This series is about a strain of vampirism that spreads like a virus and wipes out most of humanity. The story follows a small group of humans who are fighting these creatures by trying to understand where they came from. If you read horror fiction, this series is REQUIRED. Don't miss out.

I wasn't terribly impressed with The Strain. I liked the premise, and I loved the initial 150 pages or so, but it eventually devolved into mindless, repetitive action and I found I was forcing myself to read it towards the end.

I was hoping this would improve, maybe develop the plot some more, and to some degrees it did, kind of. We find out more about the mysterious Ancients, and the vampires develop a bit more so they feel less like, well, zombies. There are some positives here, but unfortunately, it's still inundated with endless vampire slaying scenes. Over and over and over again.

My issue with this is how similar they are. The vampires have to be killed in the same way every time, and there is always the post-battle irradiation show more description. I confess I started skimming these, because for ****'s sake how many times do I have to read through the characters sterilizing an area with UV light?

I'm really at the point where I kind of just don't want to read the final book, I haven't started it and I'm already dreading it. Not because they are bad, I'm giving this book 3 stars, I'm just afraid it's going to be another dull, monotonous read. With that said, I'm 2 books in, so I can't not read it. Argh! show less